Index



C. A. MEZGEH.

INDEX.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 2, I92o.

Patented Jan. 4; 1921.

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C. A. MEZGEH.

INDEX.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 2, 1920.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

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CHARLES A. MEZGER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

INDEX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

Application filed January 2, 1920. Serial No. 348,969.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. MEZGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Indexes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to indexing systems for books, accounts, card indexes, filing systems and the like, and has for its objects the provision of a system of great simplicity, rapidity and convenience, which cannot be outgrown and wherein no sheet interferes with any other sheet or is dependent upon aiiy other sheet so that the desired account can be located without leafing. Additional objects are the provision of an indexing system which shall be equally applicable to hand-bookkeeping o r machine bookkeeping and which does not depend foi' its operation upon any other conventional or arbitrary system than the common English alphabet; while further objects and ad vantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this application, I have illustrated certain operative devices in which my inventive idea can be embodied, although it will be understood that the advantages of the same can be secured through the use of many other forms and arrangements, and also that the employment of my invention may be effected by the use of simpler means inasmuch as the same is not departed from, merely being utilized to a lesser extent. In these drawings, Figure 1 is an illustration of one rather complete embodiment of my invention in the form of removable book-leaves as for a ledger system, and Fig 2 represents the same sheets as they appear in actual use, portions of the upper sheets being broken away to disclose the sheets beneath; Fig. 3 illustrates three cards of a card index system arranged according to the same indexing system; Fig. 4 is a partial view of one of such cards as it is prepared in blank for use in my improved system; and Fig. 5 is a view of a part of a single page of the type shown in Figs. l and 2 for use in my improved system but omitting one portion ofthe index.

According to my invention the edge of each card, page or member is provided with two or more rows of letters constituting the alphabet; and in preparing the members for filing, such portions of those edges are cut away as shall remove a greater or lesser portion of each alphabet depending upon the identity of the first few letters which constitute the name being indexed. This necessarily implies that the order of those letters must in some cases be changedv from the original order owing to the fact that the outermost alphabet must be cut the most, and the innermost alphabet must be cut the least, in order to prevent the formation of strips and tags which are fragile and ulipleasant. Thus the Stanard Oil Company has as its first four letters SANT, and all words including this stem must have their letters rearranged prior to indexing: this however can be effected mentally with the greatest of ease and with a little experience becomes practically of second nature. These alphabetical arrangements may either operate entirely by themselves, or in connections with other letters, members, characters, or classifications. Thus, in the example shown, in the drawings the letter S is carried upon an independent separator or tab, so that only the letters ANT in the word Standard are employed in the index itself. Furthermore, my improved index may be carried to a greater or less extent; thus the alphabet may be printed in two, three, four, or even more rows along the side of the page if desired; or a portion of the alphabet may be transferred to some other edge of the page or card as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. I consider the symbol 8a an optional part of the alphabet to be used or omitted at pleasure and according to the extent to which my system is adopted.

Describing by reference characters the illustrations in these drawings, 1 represents a blank sheet or separator carrying the permarient tab S which constitutes the first letter of all the names to be classified in this section. It will be understood that for smaller systems this letter S can be carried as a part of the marginal indexes, but I have chosen for illustration a medium-size syst-em wherein the usual alphabetical arrangement ef the initials is employed. 2 indicates an ordinary ledger sheet headed for illustration Standard Oil Company; 3 indicates a similar ledger sheet headed Scott, Brown, Jones & Williams; 4 represents a similar sheet devoted to Gn S. Smith; and

5 represents a similar sheet devoted to Smith & Vatson. Of course, the size, shape, ruling or punching are not affected in any way by this system.

' At the outer margin of each sheet or member there are printed in vertical manner three complete alphabets indicated at 6, 7, 8, all the sheets being originally exactly alike in this respect as shown in Fig. 5. In Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown my improvements as further extended by the formation of two rows of alphabets 9 and 10 at the bottom of'the page. This can either be considered as an example of the use of my invention with a double column only or fas an advance beyond the stage wherein only three alphabets are used. -In the present embodiment the three columns 6, 7 and 8 are employed to identify the surname of the individual or principal name of the corporation, and the two alphabets at the bottom to indicate the initials of theindividual or the initials of the other names in the partnership or corporation.

To index such a sheet the operator starts with one ofthe blank sheets having the complete alphabets thereon, and having decided upon the name to which the sheet shall be devoted he cuts off with scissors, or with some of the numerous cutting machines hitherto proposed for other systems, all portions of the alphabets vexcepting those necessary to identify the name in question. Thus with the name Standard the letter S appears on the main tab, and the next three letters when alphabetically arranged are ANT, accordingly he'cuts off the outermost alphabet completely except for the letter A, the second so far as the letter N, and the third so as to leave only the letter T. In case he is using the bottom alphabet letters, he cuts away the lowermost to the letterC .and the uppermost to the letter O,

leaving` the letter O to indicate Oil and the letter C indicates Co. Thus likewise for member 3, the first letter S is shown on the tab while the following letters COT follow in valphabetical order and require no transposition. Of the horizontal alphabets, the lowermost is cut away to the letter B indicating Brown, and the one above it to the letter J indicating Jones, these likewise in the present instance requiring no rearrangement.

In sheet 4 the name Smith requires rearrangement of the letters to IMT, and the lower index shows' the initials Gn S.. The sheets are arranged in the book or holder according to their marginal notations, that name having the letter A in the outer alphabet coming first, and those following lower in the alphabet being arranged thereafter in order. Even though two or three or more having the same letter should fall together, no damage is done provided only that the similar order is maintained in the second and succeeding alphabet. Thus in the example shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the outer alphabet of each of the sheets 4` and 5 shows .the letters IMT.

The Searcher, seeking the name Smith & Vatson rearranges mentally the letters in the order"IMT and puts his thumb upon the letter I. It happens that in so doing he discloses the name of G. S. Smith, but in so `doing he has disclosed an additional amount of index `(either uponthe adjacent alphabets or upon the additional alphabets at the bottom of the page) whereby the exact v-name'he desires can be Alocated -unerringly 'To lind an account with this index the following is given as a most'extreme example. `Open the book or ledger by the leather tab index designating the first letter of the name in question. Having rearranged mentally the next three letters -of this name in alphabetical order, the thumb of the right hand is vplaced upon the first of those letters vas it appears in column 6, and all pages remaining free are thrown to the left. The thumb is'now removedto the next succeeding letter found in column 7 and the operation repeated; the thumb is now removed 'to the next ysucceeding letter and the operation repeated. In all excepting the very largest concerns or in connection with the commonest names one of the other of these movements will have disclosed the page desired, but if'not, arrepetition of the same procedure with respect to the additional index at the bottom of the page will disclose the name desired.

T he system illustrated in Figs. 3 and'll is identically lthe same as heretofore explained excepting that it is arranged at the top of the page instead of 'atthe side or bottom and is designed particularly for cards and for mechanical bookkeeping systems.

It will be understood'that this index is applicable to all sorts of cards,`books,and other filing systems, and maybe "used through the medium of a larger or smaller number of alphabetsLprinted eitherfside by side or at the different locations around -the card or page; and I do not restrict myself to the details here describedexcept as speciically recited in the claims hereto annexed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A blank element for anrindexing system characterized by the possession parallel and adjacent to at least one margin of a plurality of similar rows of characterseach constituting an'alphabet, similar characters occupying yadjacent positions in all of said alphabets. j Y

2. In an indexing system, in combination,

a plurality of elements each `devotedrto a different name and each element being formed adjacent to at least one margin with a plurality of similarly positioned rows of characters constituting alphabets, the different rows along one margin being cut away so as to terminate with significant letters of the corresponding surname.

3. In an indexing system, in combination, a plurality of elements each devoted to a different name and each element being formed adjacent to at least one margin with a plurality of similarly positioned rows of characters constituting alphabets, the different rows being cut away so as to terminate with signicant letters of the corresponding name, said letters being arranged in alphabetical order with the highest in the outermost alphabet.

4. An index comprising, in combination, a plurality of elements each devoted to a different name and each element being formed adjacent to at least one margin with a plurality or' similarly positioned rows of characters constituting alphabets, adjacent characters occupying similar positions in all of said alphabets, the different rows on each element being cut awav so as to terminate with significant letters of the corresponding name, which letters are arranged in alphabetical order with the highest in the outermost row, and the elements being arranged in the relative order indicated by their marginal letters.

5. An index characterized by having a plurality of the signiicant letters of each included name arranged in alphabetical order regardless oi' the order they occupy in such name and impressed upon the margin of the corresponding index element according to such rearranged order, and the elements themselves being arranged in accordance with their marginal lettering.

6. In an index a plurality of elements each formed at one margin a plurality of steps each of which has a letter, the letters on each element consisting of the significant letters disposed opposite a similar letter in the adjacent step o the name or word borne by that element and so arranged that the highest letter shall occupy the outermost step, similar letters being located in similar positions on all the elements and the elements themselves being arranged in accordance with their marginal lettering.

7. 'Ihe method of indexing which consists in arranging in alphabetical order the significant letters of each component name or word, and impressing those letters upon the margin of the corresponding element in stepped'relation on a plurality of similarly positioned alphabets, the highest letter occurring in the outermost step, and similar letters on dierent elements having the same relative position and arranging said elements according to their marglnal letters without reference to the words themselves.

8. The method of indexing characterized by an advance arrangement or rearrangement into alphabetical order of the significant letters of the name or word to be indexed and the tabulation of said name or word according to its significant letters when so arranged or rearranged.

9. An index having impressed on each element thereof in echelon arrangement, the significant letters of the corresponding name or word, such letters being arranged in alphabetical order and located with the highest letter in the outermost position, similar letters occurring at similar positions iin all the elements, and the elements being arranged according to the marginal letters.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aiix my signature.

CHARLES A. MEZGER. 

